truckee is pretty close (half hour?) and i dig they're 18 hole. i hear they have a new 18 hole, too... but i'm not sure.
zephyr cove should be about 45 minutes away and is a super killer burly course. rugged terrain and some really beautiful views... plus a great course, too.
bijou is about an hour away and is 27 epic holes. not too rugged but some holes are rediculously tight, others rediculously long... travels over lots of land through forrests and praries. maybe the nicest course i've ever played.

unfortunately i don't know if reno has a course yet or if there's anything closer than truckee.

also within a few hours is grass valley which has two courses and toney's mountain golf (rediculous course).

Not from the area, and have only played one course that way, but like presidio hills said the Bijou in South Lake Tahoe is one sweet course. We played it on a snowboarding trip to Tahoe. It was covered in snow, and the ponds were frozen over, but you could tell it would be killer to play in the spring/summer months. Seems like there was a sign at the course with the clubs name on it.